halconfenix wrote:you have a point there... but that's precisely what i dont like about battle masters... where doesnt really matter how well (or how badly) trained a shinki AI is... all of that gets "thrown in the garbage" when the master assumes direct control of the shinki and all the shinki can do by herself is... talk... and that's no different from a game like... dragon ball tenkaichi (to put a dumb example)...

I fully understand that, and that's why I put in not only the options, but incentives for to play in other modes and swap between them on the fly. A master who plays only in Action mode is going to be forced into a limited perspective and is going to easily lose sight of the bigger picture. I'm thinking of my experience in PlanetSide here; if your squad leader isn't paying attention to the larger battle, no matter how skilled your squad is, they're going to get stomped if they're caught out of position. Even when playing in action mode, though, the Shinki AI still matters; the bond between a master and Shinki needs to be strong and robust to properly fight in that mode. I'm also thinking that the Shinki's personality would play a part; the Ride-On system is a strong method of the master exerting their will on the Shinki. If the master is consistently engaging in strategies that the Shinki dislikes (forcing a timid Shinki into melee, for example), and especially if they lose while doing those strategies, the bond will suffer, resulting in a less cooperative Shinki (symptoms would be less responsiveness and the Shinki "pulling" more frequently). Essentially, each of the three styles requires the master working together with the Shinki in a different way:
Action: The master and the Shinki need to be as one. The most important part here is a strong bond of mutual respect between master and Shinki, followed by a shared personality and tactical preferences. A Strarf, for example, is going to dislike being used as a ranged sniper, hurting the effectiveness, but that same Strarf will perform admirably when allowed to fight in close quarters.
Command: The master and Shinki need to understand each other well. Even more so than in action mode, the master needs to put the Shinki in situations that they are emotionally equipped to deal with. The Shinki also relies on the master to keep an eye on the larger tactical situation, and if the Shinki gets constantly outmaneuvered, the bond between Shinki and master is going to suffer, resulting in an insubordinate Shinki.
Support: This mode is possibly the one where the bond is least important, but where the Shinki's AI is the most important. For a master/Shinki pair to succeed, the master must trust their Shinki, and that Shinki needs to be capable of highly independent action. Even so, the master will occasionally need to dip into Command mode to deal with abnormal situations.